Tim Newman

Dr. Tim Newman, a United States Sports Academy national faculty member and associate professor at York College of Pennsylvania, is a co-author of a new textbook, “Social Media in Sports Marketing.”

Newman, who earned his doctorate in sport management in 1999 at the Academy, has done research primarily in the areas of marketing, social media, social networking, and issues related to leadership.

He noticed few educational resources were available on social media specifically for the sports industry. So, Newman organized three of his colleagues—Jason Peck, Charles Harris and Brendan Wilhide—to help write a textbook dealing with the subject in-depth from the perspective of sport professionals.

“There weren’t any resources out there to educate students,” Newman says. “This is the only educational resource of its kind.”

The book explores the concepts, tools, issues and trends surrounding social media and marketing, with reader-friendly examples, case studies and applications specifically plucked from the world of sports. It is designed, Newman explains, so instructors and students can use the book as a primary resource for teaching and learning about traditional sport marketing and public relations principles as they relate to social media.

Newman discussed with the Alumni Network his new book and some current issues in social media related to sports.

Alumni Network: How is social media transforming sports?

Dr. Tim Newman: What social media has done is transform the engagement fans have with athletes, teams and sports events. I saw a video yesterday that the Associated Press put out about how the Olympics were seen by more people in history based on mobile phone viewing. More and more you see Twitter hashtags or Facebook links put in commercials or in actual competitions. It’s really engaging fans to do something and to stay and watch longer. A lot of fans now make their comments as games are happening in real time and weighing in on good plays or bad calls. From a business standpoint, you have to look at how to create another revenue stream for your organization.

Alumni Network: Many athletes at all levels of sport seem to be in hot water with their coaches or organizations for Tweets or posts. What can be done?

Dr. Tim Newman: Mainly it comes down to educating athletes on what’s appropriate and what’s not. That really goes for everybody. I monitor the sites of my students and they don’t think sometimes about what they are posting and what the consequences are. Banning them from social media is not the right way to go. If you do that, you go from one extreme to the other. You have to set guidelines. If the athletes don’t follow the guidelines then there should be corrective actions.

Alumni Network: Why did you decide to write this new textbook, “Social Media in Sports Marketing”?

Dr. Tim Newman: It has been over a three-year process. When we first started getting involved with social media there wasn’t any resources out there to educate our students. I would go to conferences and ask everyone what I should be teaching and how we should be using it. Basically, I formed this team. Brendan (Wilhide) is one of my former students and Jason (Peck) and Charles (Harris) I met through social media. This is the only educational resource of its kind. There is a lot of writing and rewriting that went into it.

Alumni Network: Are you already working on your next textbook?

Dr. Tim Newman: Oh no! laughing Actually, we laugh, but with this textbook we have to update the website once a month. It’s not, “OK, we’ve written it and it’s done.” Social media is an ever-changing process. Instagram and Pinterest have really come on in the last six months.